Merry Christmas

It has certainly been a strange Christmas Day.

Three sent me a video of the girls opening their presents from us which was great. I really appreciated it. We have just had facetime and they are all exhausted. Wee Alice feel asleep mid chat!

One rang me this afternoon. 

Two said he will call later.

It has been blowing a gale and is about to start raining. Hopefully we won't lose power before we cook dinner. Aldi turkey cooked in our new Aldi oven.

When we moved into our house in Langwarrin in 2017 we "inherited" several bottles of wine. They have not been stored well (and nor would they have been before we bought the house) but we brought them with us anyway. Today I decided I was going to open them. One of them was Yellowglen "Red" which is pretty crap at the best of times. I have no idea how old it was (at least 7 years) and it was bloody awful. The other was a sparkling shiraz vintage 2002! I am sure it would have been amazing when drunk when it was supposed to be but the dry and brittle cork and the lack of hiss were a give away. I had a mouthful of sparkling redwine vinegar and that, too, went down the sink. I have been meaning to get rid of them for ages but am glad I tried them. I now have more room in the fridge!

Fortunately we did have a bottle of Chandon from our wedding anniversary in April this year and that has been going down very nicely. Himself is not drinking alcohol at the moment so I get the whole bottle to myself.

Well, it is Christmas.

I hope you all are having, have had or will have a lovely Christmas.

Sunday (OK Christmas Eve)

The town is filling up. I hope the tourist influx helps those businesses that rely so much on a good season. Me? I don't do crowds!

So when Himself said he would take the dogs for a swim and a walk I went with him because we don't take the dogs where there are likely to be people - and if there are people we don't let them swim. 

I love this walk. It isn't far but when the tide is out it is a lovely stretch of sand and water.

This is looking up the hill towards Kalimna. The vessel is the dredger that keeps the entrance open. 

Jinx is so much happier since her surgery. I think the constant infection really affected her. I swear she is smiling here.

This piece of wood/tree really caught my eye.

I love how the angle makes it look as if Murphy was dragging the tree.

Jinx checked it out.

The sky. The sand. The water. This view ...

Today really was a "bloody magic" day.

After the dogs had had their swim Himself took them for a long walk to dry off. 

I chose to spend some time on my own so I let them head off. I sat and enjoyed the fresh air. I walked a bit. I had a phone call with a friend. It was just lovely.

I am looking forward to more of the same. This really is a little spot of paradise.

When my kids were little we went to my Polish inlaws for Christmas Eve and it was always a fantastic evening.

They were great times..

I wish you all "Wesołych Świąt Boże Narodzenie"

You

 

I pinched this from Boud. She is a very wise woman who shares insights and beauty. 

This really touched a chord with me.

I am struggling as I do often, especially at this time of the year. This is a time for memories, regrets, grief, loss and so much more.

I will hold onto the thought that I have touched people in my life and my map will glitter. 

Remember that your map will, too.

Aldi

 

As you are well aware we refuse to use the oven in this house. It is putrid.

We have an air fryer which is great for small amounts of things. 

In this week's Aldi catalogue they had this ...

It is an air fryer, oven, rotisserie and dehydrator. It is rather large so finding somewhere in this house will be interesting but at least I can cook things in an oven again. Not sure about baking but I really miss things like quiche and pies and oven baked salmon. 

I have always been interested in dehydrating since Dr Teacher's first wife used to do a lot. 

We will have plenty of room to store it in the new house but probably won't need it as we will have a large oven but you never now. Sometimes it just isn't worth heating a large oven for a small meal. Something I did discuss with Himself when choosing said oven but he has always wanted a 900mm oven so we got one. It will be used, I am sure. No more baking in batches or deciding what doesn't really need to be cooked as it won't fit. 

I can always give it away when we decide we don't need it. I am sure there will be someone out there who would appreciate it.

They also had these ...

... which Himself thought was a great idea. It turns out to be a coffee percolator. You put ice in the container and hot coffee drips over the top of it. You then add milk and anything else you like. I think it will be going the same way as the air fryer as I am sure the novelty will wear off. 

A packet of containers for dog food and two bottles of white wine completed today's foray into Aldi.

Tomorrow Himself drives the 4 hours to Melbourne for what will probably be a 5 minute check up with the surgeon who did his eye and then 4 hours back again!

At least I can go out if I want to without having to worry about Jinx. I might just go for a wander around town and have a bite of lunch all by myself. 

Bliss! 

My patients.

The discharge instruction sheet for Himself's eye op suggested ice to be applied for the 2 or 3 days post op. It also suggested sleeping on a couple of pillows to elevate the head to reduce swelling.

Needless to say neither suggestions were followed and he is now experiencing some significant swelling which is most unsightly and rather uncomfortable. 

I am keeping my lips firmly buttoned.

Jinx, on the other hand, is doing very well. I have ceased all her pain meds and she hasn't had the cone on all day. No licking and no flinching when I inspect the area. In fact, when I ask her to show me her nethers she lies on her side and lifts her back leg. She has to have a hefty dose of gabapentin before she goes back for her stitch removal so she is relaxed enough for them to perform the ECG they couldn't do last week. As the vet put it, they want her awaaaaaay with the fairies.

It is currently wet and grey.

Matches my mood. 

But that's OK. 

Who says a wet, grey mood can't be a good thing?

Granny for the win!!

You may remember that Alice will be having surgery early in the new year for insertion of grommets and removal of adenoids. 

Over the weekend Sally was facetiming with me and Alice wanted in on the act. She kept touching her ear. I asked her why. "Ear sore, granny". Three had a look (they get a bit of eczema behind them now and again) and couldn't see anything. He tried for another look later and had his hand pushed away with a definite SORE and NO!

A doctor's visit this evening showed infection in both ears. Hopefully they will have resolved before surgery date. And also that the surgery will fix these infections.

This Granny is a bit chuffed she was able to identify a problem nearly 300 miles away! Gotta love the interwebs.

Himself and Jinx are healing well. The cone of shame is being used less which is good because I need it for Himself as he keeps touching his eye.

Himself was driving back from the block and found a surfboard in the middle of the road. It seems to have fallen off or out of a car. The cop shop was closed so he brought it home and I have posted on one of the local facebook groups to see if anyone claims it. They will have to describe it to me first. If no one reaches out we will take it to the cop shop when they are open. He was considering taking it down and leaving it on the side of the road but that is no guarantee the rightful owner will take possession. 

Apparently the prawn season has started early as a result of the recent floods so I will send Himself down to the fishing co-op to see if they have some.

I am counting down the days til Christmas is over.

Seriously, there are some really gross photos in this post so be warned or scroll by.

Jinx's nether regions pre treatment for her resistant bug and then the op.That red area is ulcerated and a vet thought it a good idea to press sticky tape onto that.

This was a couple of days post op (viewed under her tail)

This was this morning. You can see how everything is much cleaner and neater and not red and angry. 

I have dropped one of her pain meds and she is allowed a bit more time out of the cone of shame as long as she doesn't try to lick or nibble. Himself noticed a huge change after not seeing her for two days.

Speaking of Himself. This was him this morning. Apparently it isn't sore. If you can bear to look closely you will see that his eye is closed. The line you can see is the incision.

Remember our bloody magic to and fro with Three? Amy and the girls made this for Himself. He wore it with pride when we went out for coffee and doughnuts this afternoon. He wore sunglasses so as not to scare the children of which there are more and more now that the holidays have started.

One more week and then the silliness of this time of year will be over. I can't bloody wait.